Stuff in eaves - worst case scenario?

Rommie2021

Our house was built in 1969; we moved in last year. On the survey the report mentions white ‘stuff’ stuffed in the eaves and that this should be removed as there is signs of salting/condensation on the joists. We do get a lot of condensation throughout the house too. You can see it in the attached photo. It looks a bit like that fleecy stuff people put round their plants in frost. 

We are now in a position to get up there and do something about it, prior to having some plumbing up there sorted and having the loft boarded and insulated properly.  

Has anyone experienced this before? Is it going to be as simple as hooking it out? Are we immediately going to be invaded by pigeons, squirrels or water? 🤔 Is there potential for damage?

MysteryMe

All lofts need ventilation so needs removing. It's not going to let in water. You can always but some wire or some sort of guard in if you think your loft will be invaded. Are these invasions something your neighbours experience?

Rommie2021

MysteryMe said:

All lofts need ventilation so needs removing. It's not going to let in water. You can always but some wire or some sort of guard in if you think your loft will be invaded. Are these invasions something your neighbours experience?

One has told us they had rats in their roof but that it was years ago.  I agree it needs to come out - we are just not sure why it went in in the first place! 

MysteryMe

Some people don't realise that lofts need ventilation so I suspect they thought blocking up spaces where "drafts" occur was the right thing to do. All it does is create a damp environment in the loft.

Rommie2021

Thanks for giving us the confidence to try - we’ve done it! Well, we were able to do all down one side as that came away in one long strip, but the other side is wedged and there isn’t enough boarding to be able to lie, stretch and reach it with the hook/grabber we were using. It is great wedges of the kind of stuff you have inside soft toys or cushions. 

There is a plethora of things stuffed in the eaves - offcuts of wood, bricks etc! We can’t reach these at the moment but they will be coming out when we have the boarding done. Some of the roof felt seems to be hanging down a bit but if that was letting in water, the white stuff we pulled out would have been wet/mouldy, wouldn’t it? 

Albermarle

Rommie2021 said:

Thanks for giving us the confidence to try - we’ve done it! Well, we were able to do all down one side as that came away in one long strip, but the other side is wedged and there isn’t enough boarding to be able to lie, stretch and reach it with the hook/grabber we were using. It is great wedges of the kind of stuff you have inside soft toys or cushions. 

There is a plethora of things stuffed in the eaves - offcuts of wood, bricks etc! We can’t reach these at the moment but they will be coming out when we have the boarding done. Some of the roof felt seems to be hanging down a bit but if that was letting in water, the white stuff we pulled out would have been wet/mouldy, wouldn’t it? 

The roof itself is the part that keeps the water out. The felt is really only a secondary layer. Many older houses just have tiles with no felt underneath at all. 

Chickereeeee

Rommie2021 said:

Thanks for giving us the confidence to try - we’ve done it! Well, we were able to do all down one side as that came away in one long strip, but the other side is wedged and there isn’t enough boarding to be able to lie, stretch and reach it with the hook/grabber we were using. It is great wedges of the kind of stuff you have inside soft toys or cushions. 

There is a plethora of things stuffed in the eaves - offcuts of wood, bricks etc! We can’t reach these at the moment but they will be coming out when we have the boarding done. Some of the roof felt seems to be hanging down a bit but if that was letting in water, the white stuff we pulled out would have been wet/mouldy, wouldn’t it? 

That looks like B&Q  Diall economy insulation roll to me: 

 https://www.diy.com/departments/diall-insulation-roll-l-6m-w-0-37m-t-100mm/3663602481812_BQ.prd